Essay/Term paper: Legalization

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Sociology Essays

The legalization of marijuana


The Legalization of Marijuana
For the last fifty or so years it has been a crime to possess, consume, or distribute marijuana. Any rapid change in legislation toward legalization would be impossible in today"s culture. Due mostly to the overwhelming popularity of this drug it could never possibly be legalized. Any process of legalization would create unrealistic demands upon society that would affect every facet of life both domestic and abroad.
Marijuana is the most widely used illegal substance in the world, and in America nearly a third of all citizens have admitted to being exposed to it at one point in their lives. Some people have been subject to harsh criticism by admitting to using marijuana even once in their lives. This guilt that is associated with the use of marijuana is probably the only reason for its illegality. Marijuana is seen as a reckless expenditure of adolescent rebels, or as a habit of minorities that consumes their lives and forces them into the common stereotypes of poor huddled masses that contribute nothing to society except for their wasteful consumption"s.
If marijuana were legalized there would be an initial overwhelming mass consumption by any person whom had ever considered using the drug. With no legal restraints on the flow of this drug huge legal quantities would always be available to who ever wanted to use it. This constant availability would encourage over use and reckless use. Social productivity would probably be affected. It is still under debate weather or not marijuana affects performance, but any new change in lifestyle (such as drug use) has been linked to drastic changes in lifestyle.
New users would also be overwhelmed by their use. Every aspect of their lives would be affected, both positive and negative changes would occur. The adjustment to the new changes would cause the new user to make changes in their lives, and this adjustment might be just as detrimental to them as the use of the marijuana.
It is a widely known fact that marijuana is the number one cash crop in America. If marijuana were legalized many people would seize the opportunity to profit from its distribution. Marijuana would become exploited by modern society. Unless the government were to regulate marijuana transactions large corporations would make enormous amounts of money. Like the cigarette industry, advertisements would lure potential users and clutter our visual environment with useless slogans and catch phrases with seductive models scantly clad with marijuana associated apparel.
If the government were to regulate marijuana society would never be completely satisfied. Every step toward leniency on the part of the government would always be coming too late to suit the needs of users.
Their motivation is that if people were smoking marijuana they would be less likely to smoke cigarettes or drink beer.
In the most recent years local legislations have been following an unspoken policy of decriminalization. Decriminalization is a gradual process by which the crimes associated marijuana are lessened over a period of time. This decriminalization is the only way to prevent a disaster from happening.
Other nations around the world have experienced success by gradually introducing marijuana into their mainstream culture, the Netherlands has reduced its crime to a fraction of earlier rates. Now this is a specific example, in a liberal country with a very small population. Whether this policy or similar ones would work in the United States can not be determined by citing the Netherlands as an example.
In my opinion marijuana is a harmless substance that has become the scapegoat of modern politics. Tobacco and alcohol lobbies have flooded our government with the funding for the war against drugs, an evil suppressing an evil for the purpose of profit.